[PPRAANet] Waldo Canyon Fire info

Tue Jul 2 11:30:56 EDT 2013

One the great things about getting old is how liberating it can 
be...real freedom of speech!

Unfortunately, one of the techniques so often used today to get the 
upper hand and "win" an argument is to get personal.  Well fine 
then....In this case Dick becomes a verbal bully to demean the character 
and intellect of his new found "opponent."  The "originator," that's me, 
Mick, is now "stupid," has a bad "attitude" and can't seem to be able to 
do anything right to save his "own ass."  Well Dick, this isn't a fight 
you can win that way.  Actually this isn't a fight at all, at least not 
one of my making.  So Dick, why don't you just stop being a bully and 
STFU (don't you just love those texting acronyms, never quite sure 
exactly what insult is being delivered?).

I would not, for a moment, diminish the dedication, valor and heroics of 
fire fighters or any other first responders for that matter.  To them I 
say thank you!  You have my love and admiration, so again THANK YOU!!!  
But, despite efforts to make it so, this isn't about that!

Internet "scanner radio" is about listening to only *one* "channel" at a 
time.  "Colorado Springs Police and El Paso County Sheriff," "Colorado 
State Patrol - El Paso, Teller, and Pueblo Counties," "El Paso County 
Sheriff - North and South Dispatch" and a multitude of other 
communication entities across the state and our whole nation for that 
matter are also available, but in this case it was "Colorado Springs 
Fire and EMS."  Let me make it clear, I didn't "illegally" hear 
anything, I actually and clearly heard it, in real time, with my own 
ears, so don't try to tell me what I did or didn't hear.

I'll be the first to admit that, in my own case, allot more fire 
mitigation needs to be done and, despite my physical limitations, I'm 
outside, every day, doing what needs to get done.  Its very slow, it 
hearts, but I'm doing it, so don't attack me there either.  BTW, your 
welcome anytime to come by and help.

Hay, I'm entitle to my opernion and free to express it.  Like it or not, 
evacuation is problematic in that it sometimes leaves whole 
neighborhoods abandon and defenseless.  I think that perhaps, if the 
resources had been available, the outcome might have been different, but 
we'll never know now will we?

Anyway, I don't know about you, but I'm tired of all this bickering.  
I'm a retired engineer, not stupid by any means and I'm not vindictive. 
So, my thanks for the information and thanks again to the first 
responders everywhere.  I just hope, in the future, we individuals can 
be more proactive in the fire fighting process then just evacuate. Like 
maybe dispensation foam...I'm just now exploring that.  I'll let you all 
know what I find out.

73, Mick

On 7/1/2013 6:30 PM, Dick-W0RAA wrote:
> The puzzling part of this whole chain is that the originator is more concerned with saving his house and has the attitude of the hell with mandatory evacuation.  It's like he could do anything to save his house, let alone his own ass.
>
> Those firefighters laid down their own lives to get people out.  None of them expected the Waldo Canyon blaze to "literally explode" and go racing down the side of the mountain to consume 347 homes.  Homes can be replaced, lives cannot.  Sadly 2 people had to die in that fire as well as the two who died during the Black Forest fire.  Those lives were more precious than somebody's home.  The firefighters said they were totally helpless when the fire started to hit Mountain Shadows.  I have a friend who is a firefighter and he said a lot of the guys were in tears because they were not able to save the homes, without the strong possibility of loss of firefighter lives.  There isn't a piece of property on the face of the earth that is worth more than a single life.
>
> I never realized you had a possibility of losing a home to a wildfire, Mike.  Glad you didn't lose your home.
>
> But as the old saying goes "You can't reason with stupid."
>
>
> Dick
> My memory isn't as good as it used to be.
> Also, my memory isn't as good as it used to be.
>
> On Jul 1, 2013, at 5:17 PM, W0MU Mike Fatchett <w0mu at w0mu.com> wrote:
>
>> Excellent point.   If you went over the tapes of each and every channel that was in use I would bet that you would find many calls for additional resources across the entire fire.    Mobilizing resources does take some time.  I bet many FF were woken up after many hours on the fire during the day to get back out and help.
>>
>> Each and every asset, truck and man/woman is accounted for prior to being assigned.  This does not happen instantly.  The Incident commander also has to determine which areas need the most help and the best way to get that help in safely and effectively.
>>
>> I have been on the receiving end of a wildfire that burned 3000 acres in a ranch where I lived and sold property.  I did not lose my house thankfully.  Those that did started making all sorts of wild accusations and comments that were baseless.  After that Fire I joined the local department and had my eyes opened to how these events unfold and how these fires are fought.  When our fire was going on I was very upset that they would not fight fire at night when the fire laid down, but once I had the opportunity to fight a similar fire it became quite clear why they did not.    Safety of the people is the number one concern.  Everyone goes home unhurt is our goal.
>>
>> Mike W0MU On 7/1/2013 4:58 PM, Dick-W0RAA wrote:
>>> There were other areas that also needed help.  I would say that if al you basing your information on is what you allegedly heard on a scanner, then you are probably not totally aware of what was happening in the entire incident area.
>>>
>>> Like I said, it's your call.  If you think that sticking around until the last minute is the way to go, then go for it.  The firefighters did a great job and laid their lives on the line.  I sure they had more to worry about than getting people to evacuate who are too stupid to take their advise.
>>>
>>> Dick
>>> My memory isn't as good as it used to be.
>>> Also, my memory isn't as good as it used to be.
>>>
>>> On Jul 1, 2013, at 4:34 PM, Mick Sparling <mickspa at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> After the evacuation, the resources left, leaving the homes undefended (no people in them)!  See the problem???
>>>>
>>>> On 7/1/2013 2:54 PM, Dick-W0RAA wrote:
>>>>> The firefighters are professional.  If they suggest mandatory evacuation you'd be smart to evacuate the area.  But it's your life and your property.  So, if you think you know all about it, then stay and take the risk.  Hopefully you will survive, but if not, we can all say he was a nice guy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dick
>>>>> My memory isn't as good as it used to be.
> ______________________________________________________________
> PPRAANet mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ppraanet
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:PPRAANet at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>